Time Warner Cable’s ad sales arm to rep for FiOS TV

Time Warner Cable’s Media Sales group has cut a deal to sell regional television advertising in New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas on behalf of Verizon FiOS TV.

Prior to the deal, Verizon FiOS had been farming out that function to a rep firm called Viamedia.

While TWC and Verizon may seem like unlikely partners, the deal is clearly expedient for everyone involved, and it is not unprecedented; TWC Media Sales in some markets also reps for another TWC competitor, DirecTV, as well as for Cox Communications and Charter Communications.

The arrangement allows advertisers to go to a single point of contact – TWC Media Sales – to buy advertising time in three of the top-five designated market areas. Those three DMAs together represent nearly 15 percent of all U.S. TV households.

TWC Media Sales said it will sell ads across 50 ad-supported cable networks, including TBS, USA and ESPN HD. The TWC ad sales operation said the deal will increase its household reach by more than 30 percent in some markets.

Richard Williams, executive director of advertising sales at Verizon, said: “This arrangement with Time Warner Cable Media Sales helps to make doing business with Verizon even easier for advertisers. As we continue to plan for more advertising opportunities on FiOS TV, partners like this will help us to provide advertisers with a simple way to reach our customers.”

Joan Gillman, president of Time Warner Cable Media Sales, said, “Our advertising partners look to us to improve the process – add reach and enhance their ability to connect with their customers using the very latest advanced advertising features.”

Viamedia will manage the process of integrating Verizon’s ad sales with TWC’s and will continue to represent all FiOS TV advertising business in those three markets until that integration is complete.

Post-integration, Viamedia will manage the day-to-day relationship with the interconnects on behalf of Verizon and will represent FiOS in these markets for all local zone advertising sales.

NCC, the nation’s largest spot cable sales organization, will manage multi-market buys on both the Time Warner Cable and FiOS TV services for national advertisers.